I Half-Love You
by Floric1434
Summary: In a world where humans and robots live together as one, the half-human half-robot Shindou Takuto finds his way to a village, seriously injured. Before he fainted on the ground, the last thing he saw was a human with pink hair and blue eyes...
1. Prologue

Flo: GGR! I COULDN'T STOP MY HANDS FROM WRITING THIS! GGR! And plus, I've never written an IE GO! Fic yet! :D YAY~

IE GO Cast: NOOO! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO CARE? !

Flo: So, prologue…

**P/S: THIS IS A SHINDOU X KIRINO BL FIC XP GET IT? ! And yes, it's about robots and humans =.= Alternate Universe, DUH XD Plus, I personally think that ShinDOU is EnDOU and Kirino RanMARU is KazeMARU Ichirouta XD**

***I Half-Love You Prologue***

A young teen, in torn clothes was running frantically deep within a forest. He passed tree after tree, looking behind his shoulders with troubled eyes.

He looked completely human, though only experts, scientists and robots in this sick world could recognize his arms, legs and body that only _looked_like flesh, but was actually made out of metal.

To tell you the truth, he was a half-human half-robot…

His right human arm was bleeding and so was part of his torso. How his body felt pain and how his robotic side didn't feel any pain only made his mind more of a blur.

His short and wavy gray hair was a mess. His clothes were torn here and there. He had lost one shoe.

He had to get out of the city…

And into the village…

Where he had heard, robots ruled over humans.

If he could get to any village, any village at all, maybe he could be safe.

For he could be a master or a slave in any part of this wretched world, city or village.

And to his dismay, he was a slave that was treated badly by his master. He didn't want to serve his cruel master anymore, even if it did mean he could lose his life. Even if it did mean he would be betraying the one who had saved it in the first place.

Another step and pain shot through his leg. He winced and fell to the ground. The sound of something rustling in the distance caught his attention.

'I have to go on…' He thought to himself as he forced himself to stand up and at least walk. 'Maybe I should find somewhere to hide… No they'd still be able to find me… Oh God, please… please lead me to the nearest village there is!'

He held his shoulder, which had a puncture wound of a bullet, and cringed. His breathing was unstable and he was sweating. 'Where is it…?'

Alas, he fell to the ground once more, this time face first. Mustering the last of his energy, he rolled onto his side and winced in pain again. Why did he have to be half-human? Why did he have to be a half of something in the first place!

His eye vision was getting blurry. But then he heard it.

Footsteps. And they were getting closer.

'Is this… my last day on this Earth…?'

He tried hard not to close his eyes and fall asleep. He wanted to know, who was approaching him. It was either the robots his old master had sent to catch him, or if to his luck, somebody from the village.

To his surprise, he saw a flash of pink. He heard the faint words coming out of the person's mouth but his mind couldn't translate it for him for he had blacked out.

His name was Shindou Takuto.

He was a half-human half-robot.

How he had become a slave was because he owed his master, who lives in the city, for saving his life.

He had betrayed his master, and ran away to find a village.

He was dying…

And this flash of pink might be his last hope left…

***I Half-Love You Prologue End***

Flo: YAY! :D Now, I just hope, with holidays coming up, I'd at least be able to finish this! X3

IE GO Cast: NOO! WHY CRUEL WORDL WHY!

Shindou: O.o I'm a half-human half-robot? !

Kirino: Let me guess, that 'flash of pink' was me right? =.=

Flo: Ehehehehe~ ! x3

**WARNING: Actions, adventures, robots, twists, craziness, blood and death will be found in the future process of this fiction.**

**If you would like to continue, click the button below and let the author know.**

**This is InfoRobot. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 1

Flo: Yay~ I'm finally able to write I Half Love You's new chapter! xD

IE GO Cast: Hooray.

Flo: Disclaimer! Where is that useless thing?

**DISCLAIMER: Howdy ho! It's me, the Disclaimer! I'm here to tell you that Floric1434 does not own Level-5 because if she did, she'd already own Inazuma Eleven and Inazuma Eleven GO! The only thing she owns is this story right here!**

Flo and IE GO Cast: … For once, it is doing its job right.

**x—x**

Shindou winced. Well, his human arm did. A small robatic voice in his head greeted him as his robotic side gained consciousness.

_System Reboot: Complete._

His right eye – or more like his robot eye – illuminated and sent images of the room he was in to his brain. To make things clearer right now only his robotic half was awake. His human side was still asleep, but his brain knew he would be completely awake soon.

Slowly but surely, he heard the door creak open. A figure of a human being walked in, as his right eye showed to his brain. To make sure that the human wouldn't notice anything weird, the robot eye closed itself for a while.

Shindou heard the window opening thanks to his robotic ear and stirred a little when he felt the Sun's rays on his human skin. The smell of the woods reached his nostrils; and it smelt good.

"Hm… You're not awake yet…" The human said. It sounded… like a female's voice… but there had also been a hint of manliness in the said voice.

Shindou then heard footsteps leaving him and guessed that the human was walking out of the room. The sound of the door being slammed confirmed his estimation. By this time, his human side had already come into consciousness.

Sometimes, being a half robot has its advantages.

The latter sat up straight and held his aching head. It throbbed oh-so-suddenly and he felt compelled to knock his head with a hammer. But the headache disappeared as soon as it appeared.

He looked around to notice that the room he was in was fairly small. There's a table pushed against a wall on one side and an oil lamp on it. A chair sat by its lonesome in one corner. The bed creaked as he climbed down.

His right eye scanned the room once again. There was nothing suspicious about it at all. He started making his way to the table, where he noticed a book on it. It was just an old book, eaten by time. Shindou stared at the cover, a bad feeling rising inside of him.

A wave of nausea hit him and he held his head again. And to make matters worse, almost every feeling that existed in a human's heart started to emerge. Anger, pain, sadness, happiness, rage, confusion, fear; all of those emotions were bottling up inside of him.

_Warning. Danger alert. Blocked information reaching breach. _

The pain in his head increased and he screamed in agony. He held his head and had his eyes shut but the pain wouldn't go away. Shindou fell back and knocked the table over. The table – of course – toppled over causing the oil lamp to break and the book to land on the floor with a loud thud. The book flipped open, revealing a page where somebody had made a dog-ear on it.

Shindou's knees buckled and he dropped. The pain was decreasing – but ever so slowly. He opened one eye and saw…

His very own picture in it.

Tears started to appear in this eye as it was the human eye and Shindou gritted his teeth. This book had belonged to him – back in the days when he was still full human. Back in the days where he had despised robots – and worked with the government to eliminate rouge ones.

And Shindou couldn't help but to wonder…

How did this book get here?

The door slammed open, revealing a teenage guy with pink hair. He looked like he had a panic attack and was ready to fight any evil robot he found. But when he saw Shindou on the floor and the mess he had made, the stranger's face relaxed.

"You… Are you okay?" the pink-haired stranger asked, his bright blue eyes shining with concern. Shindou slowly stood up, with one hand holding his still slightly aching head, and nodded.

The stranger walked in slowly, careful not to step on the broken pieces of glass even though he was wearing boots. "What happened?" the other kneeled down in front of Shindou.

The brunette blinked. Was this guy serious? Did he really care for him?

"N-Nothing… My head just hurt… a lot…"

Concern spread though the stranger's face again.

"Don't worry, it happens all the time," though this time, it was a lie. His headaches didn't occur all the time. He could barely even remember the last time he had one! But one thing for sure, the headache he had received just now was because of that book.

"Can you stand?" he heard the stranger say and looked up. The pink-haired teen had his arm stretched out. Shindou took it and the other helped him up.

"Thank you,"

"You're welcome. My name is Kirino Ranmaru, and you are?" Kirino asked with a smile.

"Shindou… Takuto…" Shindou replied; his eyes made their way to the book on the floor. "Ano… Where did you get this book?" he asked before he kneeled down to get the book off the floor and dusted it.

Kirino gasped a little. He opened his mouth and was about to answer, but was interrupted by a few other teen males rushing into the room.

"KIRINO! WE HEARD THE SCREAM, WHAT HAPPENED?"

**.End.**

Flo: Had to stop here before mom kills me… Bye and please review!


	3. Chapter 2

Uwaah… I'm sorry it's taking me forever to complete this story! /sobs/ Well, without further ado, let's ignore the disclaimer and continue with the story!

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><p>Shindou sweat dropped. He stared at the three pair of eyes staring back at him. His robot eye scanned their faces, taking them into memory. He tried to figure out if he had met one of them before in his life, but clearly all of them were humans who he never knew existed up until now.<p>

One of them had pretty long black hair tied in a samurai style with black eyes. He was the one that had shouted upon arriving to the room. His shirt was slightly dirty, his knee-length pants weren't much of a difference, and he was barefooted. Shindou's scanner determined that this guy had quite the strength but lack intelligence in some way.

The next guy had a hairstyle where Shindou deemed weird. It sort of reminded him of a broccoli somehow; a very brown broccoli. Ignoring his human thoughts, his mechanical self began doing what he had been doing to the earlier lad – scanning. From this, Shindou found out that this second guy was pretty strong too. The different thing about him was that he was smarter than the first one. He was also wearing something that only cooks would wear.

The third and last one had navy blue hair spiked upwards, with bright orange eyes. He looked young, younger than all the other four guys including Shindou. But his height easily matched up with Kirino. This one was wearing something that resembled a yukata; navy blue and orange and plain. His sandals were snugly placed on his feet. Somehow, without even using his scanner, Shindou knew that this third one had exceptional strength too; and the brains of what one could call a genius. The half robot pondered on how he knew that, but he decided it would probably just give him another headache.

"… Kirino, who's this?" the one with the apron asked Kirino, who scratched his cheek in response.

"Well… I kind of found him in the woods…"

"YOU WENT INTO THE WOODS AGAIN?" the samurai and the cook yelled. The youngest guy simply rubbed his ear in annoyance, receiving most of their shouts since he was the closest to them.

"If I didn't went into the woods, I would never have found him all bruised and wounded on the forest floor!" Kirino shot back, defending himself. All of the three teens who had just entered gasped.

Shindou stood there, deciding that it would be best if he didn't interfere. From the looks of it, Kirino and these two other guys knew each other very well. The half-robot was about to take another glance at the book on the floor, when the navy blue haired teen walked up to him. Shindou froze.

"You seem to be fine…" the guy remarked. Kirino heard him and turned around to face him – and avoid the other two at the same time.

"Well, I've been taking good care of him for the past three days, Tsurugi. Why wouldn't he be fine?"

Shindou's eyes narrowed. _Three days? You have got to be kidding me._

"THREE DAYS?" the samurai yelled again. "HOW COME WE NEVER NOTICED?"

"I don't know, maybe because I never let anybody enter my room without _permission_." Kirino replied, sending deathly glares towards the three. The samurai flinched a little, while the cook sweat dropped. The navy blue haired guy was unaffected.

"Alright, alright, we're sorry for bursting into your room without permission but that scream we heard earlier made us do it!" the cook said, now on the defensive side. The samurai nodded in agreement.

Shindou restrained himself from saying something. If he did, he might say something stupid. And he didn't want to cause any more trouble. He heard a sigh coming from Kirino.

"Anyway, this is Shindou Takuto," Kirino introduced.

The cook nodded with a smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you, Shindou. I'm Sangoku Taichi."

"The name's Nishiki Ryouma!" the samurai said with a huge grin on his face and a thumb up. "Sorry about the chaos earlier…"

The last one, who had been quiet all of this time, nodded his head a little with his eyes closed. "Tsurugi Kyousuke." He said simply.

Shindou bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." He stood up again.

"So, how did you end up in the forest?" Nishiki asked, curiosity dripping down his tone.

Shindou flinched at this. Memories of his master flooded his mind at an alarming rate. One day after the other, one memory after the other. It surprised him how he was able to keep up with his master's tortures until now. He looked around, feeling the gaze of everybody on him. He was about to answer, when Kirino started to push him from behind.

"Alright people, it's lunch time! Come on, come on! Let's get a move on!" Kirino practically shoved a very shocked Shindou out of his room; the other three males tailing after him. The pink haired male closed the door behind him, and locked it for safety measures.

"Finally! Lunch time!" Nishiki shouted and started towards the direction of what Shindou could only assume to be the dining hall. Sangoku and Tsurugi followed suit, though they were less enthusiastic.

Shindou wondered why on Earth Kirino stopped him. Did Kirino already know about his past? Or was it something else? He wasn't really sure.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Shindou turned his head around and saw Kirino smiling at him. The other guy winked before saying, "I didn't think you were eager to talk about it."

"… But why?"

Kirino shrugged. "I don't know… Besides, it really is lunch time and I bet you're really hungry!" He plastered another smile on his face and started shoving Shindou towards the dining hall.

Shindou didn't really have much of a choice.

* * *

><p>Kirino opened the swinging doors that led to the hall. Shindou walked in, Kirino behind him.<p>

The dining hall wasn't very majestic, but it wasn't very bad either. It was large; large enough to fit hundreds of people. The metals were rusted, the floors creaked with every given step and Shindou recognized a huge cobweb on the top corner of a wall; a broken window at a far end. It was a perfect setting for a pre-horror movie, if he was ever in one.

But the scary murky feel disappeared as laughter filled his ears. Shindou's eyes narrowed once again; astonished because everybody here could still laugh and be _happy_ in such a miserable place. The setting totally didn't fit everybody's antics.

Even so, he couldn't remember the last time he was in a room of happy-go-lucky people…

"Yo, Kirino! Who's that you got with you?" a male with black hair and a pair of goggles for a hair accessory walked up to them with a very friendly smile. Shindou couldn't help but to think that his guy wouldn't even dare to hurt a fly.

"Oh, somebody I found. He was hurt, and he hasn't eaten for days!"

The black haired boy tilted his head. "You want me to call Hayami?"

Kirino's eyebrows shot up. "Why Hayami?"

"Because he's good at this medical stuff…?"

"… You always like making things up, don't you Hamano?" The pink haired male sighed, and started to move towards an empty table. Shindou obediently followed, having nothing else to do and having absolutely no idea where he was.

"That was Hamano Kaji. He's the type who likes to goof around." Kirino shrugged and sat down. Shindou sat down too, but his face was filled with awe and wonder. Everybody in the dining hall was laughing and so far, he has not seen one single robot. It was starting to bug him, really. Being half human and half robot, he never really fit in anywhere. Being in a room that only had humans, it somehow made him uncomfortable without his other race in the same place.

"If you don't mind me asking… exactly _where _am I?" Shindou asked, desperate. He didn't want to use the map in his hand or his tracking gadget in public. Until the time was right, he would make sure that nobody knew of his other race.

"Well buddy, welcome to the village of Raimon." Kirino said, pride in his tone.

Shindou Takuto could only gasp at the sudden realization of how deep his pit of doom was.

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><p>Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to recollect my scattered memories because I've forgotten half of the plots for all of my stories<p>

IE GO Cast: … You WHAT?

… Haha?

IE GO Cast: N-Never mind… Well, you know how it works everyone! Read and review!

InfoBot: And make InfoBot very happy! :D


	4. Chapter 3

Me: /silently eats some popcorn/

IEGO Cast: …

Tenma: So Coach Endou was right… o_o

Shindou: She's… acting… weird…

Me: /stuffs more popcorn into her mouth/

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><p><strong>I Half-Love You: Chapter 3<strong>

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><p>The village of Raimon. <em>He<em> was in the village of _Raimon_. Oh, screw this. Shindou would gladly die. Okay, not really. He wasn't fond of the idea of being dead. But still, why was Fate so cruel. No wonder there were zero robots around.

Kirino read the shock on Shindou's face. The pink haired male pursed his lips in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Shindou shook his head – a little too quickly. He nervously smiled. "Oh it's nothing… I just realized how far I travelled, that's all." A smooth liar, that's what Shindou was.

"Really? So you're not from somewhere close?"

'_Actually, just next door,'_ Shindou thought to himself. But then he couldn't say it out loud. He couldn't say he came from Teikoku City. So he chose someplace further and further away. "I'm from Hakuren,"

'_Nice move Shindou Takuto. You had to say you came from a city that's no different than your real one. Haha, nice,'_ the brunet felt like facepalming all of his technological stuff out of his mind.

Kirino's eyebrows shot up. He was surprised. "Hakuren City, huh? That's really far away…"

Shindou nodded in response.

Kirino smiled. He stood up. "I'll go get you something to eat, you look starving," he said. Shindou was about to protest but Kirino already walked away.

Shindou sighed. He stared at his hands. He needed to get out of here. The longer he stayed in Raimon, the more his life was at risk. After all, he was really aware of the fact that the people here in Raimon despised robots more than anything else.

_Raimon…_

If Shindou remembered correctly, this village was the famous Inazuma's base. Yeah, that's right… the Inazuma Team; a group of teens who were hired by the government to hunt and destroy rouge robots. Slowly, he started to remember the past he had forgotten.

Shindou Takuto was their leader. Shindou was their captain. He had led the team a few years back; a team of five people. The brunet closed his eyes. The pain in his head slowly came back. He tried to remember the other member's faces. But it only worsened the pain. He winced. Maybe it was a bad idea to try and remember everything all at once. Maybe he should start slowly. He remembered that he was the Inazuma Team's captain. So, why wasn't he the captain now?

Ah, of course… They had been hunting down a robot. But instead of success, almost all five of them died. Wait, didn't one die? Shindou wasn't really sure but the one who died had bright orange eyes. He was also one of the strongest among all of them. How… How did he die?

"Urgh," Shindou rubbed his temples. He should stop before the pain gets worse. Kirino was coming back anyway.

"Here you go," the pink haired male placed a plate of delicious looking food in front of Shindou. He smiled as he sat down. "It's on the house,"

The brunet felt uncomfortable. He didn't really want to eat – not that he couldn't eat. It was just that Kirino was being so nice to him, it felt awkward. Noticing that Kirino didn't have a plate himself, Shindou stared at him. "What about you?"

Kirino just shook his head. "I already ate. A late breakfast, is what I'd call it," he laughed a little.

Shindou nodded and his gaze turned to the food. Maybe a few bites wouldn't hurt. He cut a small piece of the steak and chewed it. His eyes brightened as the flavours exploded inside his mouth. He looked at Kirino again with a grin. "This is amazing…!" he exclaimed and ate more. He had forgotten what steak tasted like. In fact, he hadn't eaten a balanced meal in ages. Maybe he could stay here a little while longer – just to get better.

_Yeah, maybe._

Technically speaking, he would be safe here too. He could take refuge in this village until his master – ex-master – gave up on him. And he would love to know more about his past – since his ex-master had been kind enough to make him forget of the fact that he used to be a robot hunter or his whole life before he was saved, for that matter.

Sarcasm intended and should be taken note of.

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><p>Aah sorry guys, but my mind's a really huge mess right now. I'm starting to forget most of the important stuff I should be remembering and I feel like exploding right now. Orz. Hopefully I can remember everything again soon, so until then, see you!<p> 


	5. Chapter 4

I will take this chance to bow down and apologize to everybody for my slow updates. I really am sorry.

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><p>The local villagers came to know him and he came to know them. He learned how to fish from Hamano and Hayami – though strangely enough it felt like he had done it before – and the local musician taught him how to play a piece on the piano – the said musician praised him for his fast learning skills; though it was a bit fuzzy, Shindou was sure he used to be a pianist before he was a half-robot.<p>

Kirino and he became good friends, if not best friends. They talked a lot with each other and everywhere the pink-haired male went, the half-robot was sure to follow. Kirino didn't mind at all. He liked the company, and he liked talking with Shindou. Strangely enough, Kirino couldn't seem to understand why Tsurugi kept his distance from the newcomer.

That aside, today was the seventh – eighth? – day Shindou had lived here with Kirino and the others. His wounds were thoroughly healed now, merely fading scars of the past. Even though Shindou was fully aware of the consequences staying here – the village of Raimon was known for the people's hatred towards robot and thus any kind of robot found inside the village would be executed immediately – he couldn't help but to want to stay here longer. The friendly people were definitely beckoning. He liked going into the market – something that he had planned to do today.

The brunet stepped off the ledge. Kirino wasn't in the village today. He had told Shindou that he would be roaming the woods for a while; something that Kirino now considered a habit despite the danger of the things outside the fence. Shindou wanted to come along but Kirino had sternly told him not to. It would be bad if Shindou got injured again. So, Shindou obliged to his new best friend's words. As he took slow steps towards the market, Shindou's mind drifted off to Tsurugi. Somehow as the days flew by, the navy blue haired male seemed to look more familiar each time Shindou interacted with him. Even the other day when all of them went fishing in the nearby river – Tsurugi had calmly laid his fishing rod against a rock and he would sit next to it; a position Shindou felt like he had seen countless of times before.

Speak of the Devil; Tsurugi was just a few steps away from him. It looks like he was returning from the market. In the exact same moment Shindou noticed Tsurugi's presence, the latter noticed Shindou's presence too. They stared at each other for a while before Tsurugi slowly advanced towards Shindou. The younger male stopped right in front of Shindou and bowed his head a little out of respect for the older male. "Good morning, Shindou. Are you going to the market?" he asked politely.

The brunet couldn't help but to stare into Tsurugi's eyes. Where had he seen those eyes before? Where? He just couldn't put a finger on it. Plus, his head ached every time he tried to remember. For now he could only assume he had seen those eyes back in the past. So did that also mean Tsurugi was part of his past? If yes, then why did Tsurugi not recognize him?

"Oh, yes. I take it you're going back to the apartment block?" Shindou smiled, nodding a little. Tsurugi's room was just a level above Shindou's room – which was situated beside Kirino's room.

Tsurugi nodded back without saying another word. There was an awkward silence between them. The navy blue haired male was staring into Shindou's eyes as the brunet himself stared into Tsurugi's eyes.

Shindou bit his cheek. Something was bothering Tsurugi, he could tell. The creases on Tsurugi's forehead gave it all away.

"Can you come with me?"

The sudden question caught Shindou off guard. His eyes widened a little and his face was made of pure shock. Tsurugi's eyes seemed to shine with determination. At the sight of this new development, he nodded. "O-Okay," he replied – though still not really sure if this was the right decision. Tsurugi turned on his heels and walked to a direction that didn't lead to the market nor apartment block. Shindou took a step forward and followed the younger male cautiously.

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><p>Tsurugi had led him to the river from the other day – Raimon's source of water and fish. He stopped under a shady and single tree that overlooked the rest of the river. Other than the tree, the only plants available were the grass beneath their feet and a number of flowers scattered around. The fence built for protection was still a good distance away from them – the forest, beyond it.<p>

Tsurugi turned around and faced Shindou again. His forehead's creases were clearer now. His bright orange eyes had a new spark; a spark of worry, anticipation – and hope.

"Shindou…" Tsurugi started, his eyebrows furrowed. He seemed to be hesitating."Are you familiar with the Inazuma Team?"

Shindou's shock couldn't be measured. His eyes were wide, so wide he thought it wasn't possible. His gasp seemed to echo in his own ears. How? How did Tsurugi know about the Inazuma Team? Unless…

_No. No, no. It couldn't be._

Seeing Shindou's reaction, it was enough for Tsurugi to confirm his assumption. "You do know." He stated that fact with crossed arms.

The brunet lowered his head. "How did _you_ know…?" he suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia, sadness and anger in the same time. He didn't know how. He just did.

"_You_ should know how better than anybody else," Tsurugi replied, his hands had dropped to his side. His fists tensed. His eyes narrowed and he scowled. "Don't tell me you don't remember anything at all?!"

Shindou screamed as a sudden pain shot through his head. It felt like a bullet had been shot into his head. His knees buckled. His brown orbs shut tight in agony. Shindou dropped lower, grasping the grass with his fists – trying so hard to get rid of the pain. Tsurugi panicked and he too dropped to the ground next to Shindou, trying to comfort the brunet. "Shindou! Shindou…!" his teeth clenched together. "I knew it. That guy, he really did erase your memories." His tone was filled with anger, hate, despise for a certain someone that lived in Teikoku City.

The brunet on the ground forced an eye open. "W-What… How did you know that…" he asked weakly, his energy depleting quicker than a fox can run. He stopped thinking and the pain itself slowly decreased.

"Can you at least stand…?" Tsurugi asked, this time with worry. He held Shindou by the shoulder and helped him stand up. Shindou didn't give up though. He had this idea that Tsurugi was avoiding his questions on purpose. Once he was on his two feet, he gripped Tsurugi's shoulder blades and glared into his face. _"What do you know about my past?"_ he hissed through gritted teeth.

Tsurugi wasn't fazed at all. In fact, he calmly stared back. He lifted Shindou's hands off of his shoulders and released them. Once that was done, he straightened his body – his feet close together and his straightened arms were no more than one centimetre away from his body. Tsurugi lifted up his own right hand and saluted with three fingers straightened while the pinkie finger and the thumb were bent inwards. His eyes narrowed.

"Member #2 of the Inazuma Team. Tsurugi Kyousuke, at your service."

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><p>CLIFFHANGER! And a pretty nifty one at that.<p>

**InfoBot: Uwaaah! Turns out Tsurugi was part of the infamous Inazuma Team! What shall come out of this revelation?! More surprises, of course!**


	6. Chapter 5

I think I forgot this story even existed. Ha. Haha. Here have this rushed update I'm feeling so unproductive and lazy oh my god. I'm actually surprised people still read this like wow? How did you guys even find this story it hasn't been updated since last year.

Ba dum tss I made a joke laugh with me.

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><p>"Member… Inazuma Team…?" Shindou was at a loss for words. The thought of the person in front of him being—<em>used<em> to be—a member of his team was absurd. Surely if Tsurugi had really been part of the Inazuma Team, shouldn't Shindou remember a few things about him when they first met a few days ago? The brunet thought about it more and slowly—but unwillingly—he started to think that maybe Tsurugi wasn't lying. Maybe he really was a member of the Inazuma Team. Maybe that was why throughout the days he had spent with him and the others, Tsurugi seemed more and more familiar. The other simply nodded at Shindou's words and returned to his normal standing stance.

"Then… why didn't you tell me earlier, when we first met?"

"Because I'm dead."

Honestly, Shindou lost count how many times he was surprised in the last five minutes. "_Dead?_ What do you mean? You're here standing in front of me right now, alive and breathing." He narrowed his eyes, doubt in his tone. Tsurugi was quiet, his eyes on Shindou's. It took only a few seconds later, before Shindou felt like the air was punched right out of him. His jaw dropped slightly as he recognized those eyes of Tsurugi—those orange coloured eyes. A memory came into his view. An image of Tsurugi fishing the other day was compared to another image of somebody else fishing—both of them having the same silhouettes and fishing style. More and more forgotten memories of a navy blue haired teenager with orange eyes started to appear—and the most vivid memory Shindou was able to remember was when this particular navy blue haired teenager was killed by a robot right in front of his eyes.

"No way. Tsurugi Kyousuke. _Tsurugi Kyousuke_. You're supposed to be _dead_." The disbelief in Shindou's tone couldn't be measured. His ex-teammate's name sounded so foreign coming out of his mouth. Tsurugi let a small smile grace his face. "At least now you remember I was a part of your past. That's good enough for me."

Shindou was tempted to threat the other with his laser gun that he hadn't used in a long time. Why was the other being so secretive? "_Tell_ me Tsurugi, how did you live? I saw you. Your body was ripped to shreds. Neither of us were able to help you because we were paralyzed." He pressed on, wanting more and more to know the truth now.

"I survived the same way you did."

"Excuse me?"

Shindou gave him a confused look. Tsurugi lifted his hand, his orange eyes were suddenly glowing the colour of the day sky. And Shindou watched as Tsurugi's said hand transformed from a human hand—to a fully automated robotic arm. The brunet gasped and his body trembled when more and more of Tsurugi's supposedly human body parts transformed into steel, metal and gears until there were no signs of human left. A complete android stood in front of him and the only thing that reminded Shindou that the android was Tsurugi was because of the hair.

"I'm not a half like you, Shindou. I had to be reincarnated completely."

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><p>They sat on the grass, both of them leaning against the tree. Tsurugi was back to his human form. The atmosphere was tense in the same time calm as Shindou took the time to accept the news that he had found out. With his human arm, Shindou traced the grass under him and he did the same thing again only with his robot arm. He realized that Tsurugi probably had no idea how the grass felt like. Tsurugi probably couldn't feel anything nor could he taste anything. The brunet lowered his head, feeling somewhat grateful he was only a half and still had some human to him. He touched his robot arm with his human arm and noted the difference in temperature—cold on one arm and warm on the other.<p>

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault."

"But…"

"You and the others were dying. I had to do something."

"Even at the cost of your own life?"

Tsurugi didn't answer.

"Who reincarnated you?" Shindou asked slowly, twirling a blade of grass in his hand.

"My brother,"

"Ah, Yuuichi-san…" Shindou found himself smiling. "You remember him?" Tsurugi asked. "I remember most of the things about you now. You joined the team after me, that's why you're number 2. You have an older brother, who helps the team behind the scenes. You trained nonstop and you're the strongest in the team." Shindou replied with confidence.

A chuckle came out of the younger teen. "_Was_ the strongest."

Shindou smirked. "So what exactly happened after the fight?"

"You and the others were transported away from severe injuries. My brother… uhm…" he hesitated, "found my body and…" Tsurugi didn't want to exactly talk about it. That was the reason his tongue was tied. He didn't know how to word out what happened. Plus, it was pretty embarrassing in retrospect. Tsurugi closed his eyes, his mouth turned a little bit downwards. "And I think we should head back,"

Shindou noticed this and he sweat dropped. He figured that he shouldn't press on the matter anymore—it would be disrespectful of him. The brunet stood up, realizing that as of right now he was no longer seeing Tsurugi as a stranger who came from the village he was temporarily staying in. He was now seeing Tsurugi as a comrade, a junior and more importantly—his comrade who he fought battles with.

Smiling, he helped Tsurugi up. The navy blue haired teen raised an eyebrow. "Why are you smiling?" at the question Shindou ended up grinning. "I guess I'm really happy to be able to meet one of my friends again. It saddens me a little that I still can't remember the rest of the team," Shindou replied and his grin faltered. Tsurugi let a small smile on his face too. "You will." _Soon_ he wanted to add but refrained himself.

"At least drop me some hints, Tsurugi,"

"The third one is my best friend. The last two are a couple. Done."

"WHAT?!" He gasped. Shindou couldn't believe his ears. "But… all five team members are guys right?" Tsurugi looked at him with one eye as he started to walk towards the village again. "Ever heard of the term 'gay'?"

"… And are you… gay… too…?" _What_ _if I was gay too what the hell oh my god_ Shindou thought to himself, suddenly wishing he didn't ask about the others in the team. Tsurugi shrugged. "Was. Is. Bisexual." And he continued on walking without waiting for Shindou.

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><p>GOD FUCKING DMAN IT I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF AT THE END I ACCIDENTALLY WROTE THAT LAST PARAGRAPH WITHOUT THINKING AND NOW I DON'T WANT TO DELETE IT AT ALL OH MY GOD SHINDOU I AM SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME BECAUSE THIS IS TOO FUNNY DAMN IT<p>

InfoBot: In which Flo loses her sanity and is showing it in her stories. Apparently there was—were—people in love in the team! Care to guess who the last two are? And since there are five people, one of them is forever alone—not really—since (spoiler alert) Tsurugi was actually in a relationship too! Read and review please!


	7. Chapter 6

I still don't know how people find this story or why they even like it. I reread the older chapters and they're honestly horrible /cries

Either way, I hope you enjoy this apparently yearly update.

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><p>Sure he was glad that apparently the friend he thought was dead wasn't so dead after all. But the whole being a full robot thing wasn't such good news. Plus he still had his missing memories and not to mention being in the huntlist of one of Teikoku City's highest ranking nobleman. Shindou Takuto couldn't even imagine being in deeper shit, really.<p>

"Why Raimon?" he asked Tsurugi, who's walking a few paces in front of him.

The robot man turned his head around, and Shindou caught a faint smile.

"Because it's the safest place."

Shindou's copper orbs widened before his eyebrows furrowed. He didn't understand. Raimon's people hated robots. They hated robots down to the very core of their hearts. He didn't understand why Tsurugi would choose to reside in a place like this after his 'death'. It barely made any sense to his mind, unless of course, things changed while he had been a captive slave in Teikoku City. But as far as he's seen, nothing has.

Tsurugi must've expected his confusion or at least seen it through his face, because he said, "When you have your memories back, you'll understand."

The brunet could only hope he was right.

The two of them walked together in almost complete silence. Almost, because Shindou would once in a while remember something and ask for Tsurugi's confirmation, in which he gave. And sometimes Tsurugi would ask Shindou if he remembers something—be it information or a memory—in which he would either nod or shake his head. It was nearly lunch and admittedly Shindou was hungry so he's glad they were going back to the apartment block. Around this time Kirino would be back from his trip into the forest too.

Shindou realized something. Did anyone else know about Tsurugi's fullmetal body? It seemed likely not. It wasn't too hard to hide your robotic parts (in Tsurugi's case, his entire body) but it'd also be good if he had some help on the matter, risky as it is. Perhaps Tsurugi did, for being able to live here…

He stopped himself from thinking any further. If he didn't, he'd want to know how Tsurugi stayed here for so long. And when he did, he'd want to stay here just as long too. He couldn't afford to do that. Not until things in _his_ life calmed down, at least. Then maybe… maybe after that… he could—

Shindou turned his head sharply to the left, where barren grass and tall trees grew. His eyes squinted, while his mechanical one scanned the area and gave him the information it collected. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Strange, he was sure there had been something there… When he turned around and saw Tsurugi looking anxious just as much as he was feeling, he knew he wasn't wrong.

Their eyes met and Shindou didn't need to think twice to know the two of them understood each other. They walked with quick steps and entered the village on high-alert. Whatever was following them if it had no intention to hurt others then they were perfectly safe. But if it didn't care who was in its way, then the two of them were putting lots of innocent lives in danger.

So far, things went good. Neither of them felt something strange afterwards, just many village people going through with their lives. They would have dismissed it as their imagination but they knew better than that. Nothing in this world was coincidence.

A million possibilities ran through Shindou's head, each one worse than the last. And the worst possibility he has…

The brunet gripped his fists. If his previous master tracked him down, then he has to leave. He couldn't stay here and risk the lives of everyone. And he'd have to do it in secret. He couldn't tell anyone where he was going.

But that's the question. Where would he go? Where _could_ he go? He arrived here by mistake, weakened and injured but then healed and cured by Kirino… He ran away when he got the chance, unprepared and clueless. He was lucky that Kirino found him. He wasn't sure if his luck would repeat itself in another place.

He had no choice. He had to leave.

When the two of them entered the dining hall, most of the residents were already seated and eating. Some greeted him and Tsurugi, and he tried to reply as normal as possible. Tsurugi gave him a funny look—which was a sign he didn't quite succeed. No matter. It wasn't like he was sticking around long enough for the others to notice and question his change in behaviour. If he could only slip away into his (temporary) room, he could study the map a little and figure out where it was best to go.

Before he was able to continue with his thoughts, a small four-legged critter made its way between his legs in an excited rush. Shindou stopped walking just in time, or else he could've tripped over it. The brunet looked down in surprise, all previous intentions or matters gone from his mind. All he could think was _'How did a fox get in here?'_

He lifted the apparently tamed fox into his arms, scratching the back of its ears like he would with a cat. "You… are you lost…?" he asked it softly.

"No, not at all." The fox didn't answer him, someone else did. Shindou and Tsurugi turned their attentions away from the animal to the male approaching them with a smile on his face. It was Kirino. "He followed me here, so he's not really lost. I'll take him back to the forest tomorrow. Unless he doesn't want to leave," he said. There was something in his blue eyes, however, that said something along the lines of _'Unless you want to keep him.'_

Shindou couldn't. He obviously couldn't. So he laughed a little, handing the fox back to Kirino whilst saying he preferred cats. While Kirino asked him what he had been doing while he was gone, Shindou noticed Tsurugi staring absentmindedly at one point on the wall not far from them.

He turned his eyes to the same point and nearly at once the alarms in his robotic system went off.

_WARNING: Heat signature detected—reaching dangerous levels._

With a gasp of realization, Shindou lunged towards Kirino and the fox, using his body as a shield against the blast that tore the wall apart.

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><p>InfoBot: *meme voice* what does the fox say (it says Floric1434 deserves jail) So! This chapter doesn't show much Kirino, huh? That should change soon! Stay tuned, robotic readers.<p> 


	8. Chapter 7

nope, i havent given up on this story yet. i'll finish it even if it kills me!

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><p>The shockwave of the blast sent them rolling. Shindou tightened his arms around Kirino, ducking him away from danger. There was a ring in his right ear and the heat on his back almost felt unbearable. He opened his eyes and he looked down quickly to check on Kirino. The pink-haired male seemed fine. At least, his face wasn't contorted in pain or anything.<p>

Shindou immediately felt the relief spread through him. But the moment was short-lived. He remembered the danger that might be behind him and took the risk of glancing over his shoulder.

The smoke and dust were settling down. Where the wall was now had a hole, a gigantic one at that—and in the middle of the hole, someone stood still.

"S-Shindou…?" he heard Kirino cough and he turned his attention back to him.

"I'm here," he said, to assure the other. He pulled Kirino to get him to sit properly and noticed the fox had burrowed itself in his arms in fright. "Are you alright?" the half-robot asked.

Kirino nodded his head. "What happened?" he looked around them and his face fell. "Whoa."

The brunet looked back to the strange figure that made the hole. He narrowed his eyes, getting a clear look of the person. It was a male, probably no older than Shindou was, and he had teal coloured hair that went past his shoulders with golden cat-like eyes. But his face lacked emotion and for that one reason alone Shindou knew this stranger was no human. He didn't even need his robot eye to scan him to know that.

People from behind them were murmuring and making distressed noises. He was sure some were panicking in the background. How did he forget that the residents of the apartment building were still in here? They could possibly be in danger.

No, they _were_ in danger.

Shindou's breath hitched in his throat when the robot assassin locked eyes with him. He froze. He didn't dare move a muscle. Those eyes held no light; not a shine or spark of life in them. They were completely cold.

He had never seen this robot before. It was either new or it had been kept away from him for various reasons. This could prove fatal to him, he realized. He had no idea how to engage combat when lots of innocent lives could be lost in the process, especially with an enemy whose abilities was kept in the dark from him. He'd rather avoid it.

But, how was he going to escape? There had to be a way. He had to protect these people from harm. They didn't deserve to even see a battle between robots, especially the person who saved his life.

To his surprise however, neither he nor the robot assassin made the first move.

It was Kirino.

The pink-haired male stood up abruptly, his face held a look of pure shock and… joy? What? Shindou furrowed his eyebrows. Was Kirino not as sane as he was led to believe or was he… working for his previous master the entire time?

"Kariya!" Kirino said with a grin as he went closer to the offender with quick steps. "You… you're back!"

"No, Kirino, don't—!" Shindou called out, appalled.

There was a click of a gun and Shindou felt his blood run cold when he saw the assassin—Kariya—raise the said weapon into the air, aiming right at Kirino. Not a flicker of emotion betrayed the teal haired person's face.

Shindou expected the worse when the _BANG!_ rang through his ears.

Usually by instinct, a normal person would cringe and shut their eyes at the loud deafening sound of a gunshot from such a close distance. But, Shindou Takuto was far from a normal person and he knew that. He also knew that he forgot he had an ally with him, someone who was probably willing to sacrifice himself all over again like he did all those years ago to save his team.

Tsurugi Kyousuke lunged forward.

He had gotten in front of Kirino and deflected the oncoming bullet with an energy sword that was installed in his right arm.

Without waiting for a reaction from the onlookers, Tsurugi dashed forward with the energy sword raised in the air, aiming to slash at the offender directly. But Kariya had blocked the attack with an instant shield; something that Shindou wasn't sure where he got from. It was a one-time use, apparently, since Kariya dropped it immediately after he jumped away to give him and Tsurugi distance.

That or it was because the shield was melting.

Shindou noticed that Tsurugi's feet moved fast and he spared no time. Where Kariya ran, Tsurugi would give chase. Tables were sliced into two, chairs were thrown into the air and became splinters, and some people were screaming as the two robots fought. It seemed like Kariya would be overtaken at any given moment as he did nothing but dodge and defend against the attacks.

Shindou knew he was wrong to assume.

Tsurugi had caught Kariya in a corner. But just as Tsurugi's sword almost hit the offender, he stopped moving. A look of frustration and confusion spread through Tsurugi's face. When he looked at his arm, he saw it. Pink strings were tightly wrapped around his wrist.

Shindou gasped as he saw what was happening. More and more pink strings were sprouting from the ground, the walls and the splinters of broken furniture. They shot forward and bound the rest of Tsurugi's limbs, rendering him completely unable to move.

The brunet half-robot walked forward and pulled Kirino to stay behind him, who already looked weak in the knees. He glared at the offender, who almost looked bored with his neutral face. Tsurugi struggled to break free from his binds but they were stronger than they looked and completely overpowered the robot. He could barely twitch.

"What do you want?" Shindou heard himself say with much hostility, even though he knew perfectly well what the other robot was here for.

Kariya lifted his head to look at Shindou and once again the cold eyes bore into Shindou's skull. He wanted to hurl. There was not a trace of humanity left in this one.

In the most awkward but fluid way possible, Kariya spoke. "I've come to retrieve you, Shindou Takuto."

He wasn't expecting a direct answer.

"I am _not_ following you anywhere," he said. He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was Kirino. The pink-haired male must be wondering what was going on and was feeling confused about the situation at hand. Especially when it seemed like Kirino knew this person—_robot_—named Kariya.

That was bad news.

Kariya tilted his head to the side, as if contemplating Shindou's defiance. He completely ignored the trapped Tsurugi and walked closer towards Shindou. In the same voice as earlier, he said, "You will come with me. It is the Master's orders."

Shindou grit his teeth and felt himself clench his fists. "He's not my master. I'm not his slave and neither are you. He doesn't have power over any of us," he said, trying to at least get the robot to think for himself and not just follow orders. Maybe he could still wake him up.

The robot was still walking towards him.

This was getting bad. Shindou didn't think he could fight this robot and protect Kirino at the same time. Tsurugi was out of commission—_what were those pink strings anyway_—and Shindou knew he was alone this time. Like he always was.

Maybe he could distract Kariya with words long enough for Tsurugi to break free—it seemed possible. Or maybe he could continue trying to reason with Kariya, trying to get the robot to have a mind of his own.

He saw Kariya raise his gun.

Maybe a conversation wasn't the best idea anymore.

With a quick step forward, Shindou raised his leg and kicked the gun out of Kariya's grasp. The gun fell to the floorboards and slid under an overturned chair. Shindou grabbed Kariya's arm and twisted them until Kariya fell to the ground and he was sitting on top of him. If the robot was surprised, his face didn't show it.

"Kariya, what are you doing?! What happened to you?!" Kirino shouted as he dropped to his knees next to them. Startled, he looked up to see Kirino's heartbroken face and the tears welling up in his eyes. He was biting his lip.

Shindou felt his own heart hurt at the sight. He decided he never wanted to see that expression on Kirino's face ever again.

Kariya didn't respond, if the silence was any answer to go by. Shindou touched Kirino's arm to calm him down. "Kirino, if you know this person then, I'm sorry. He's… He's not human anymore."

The face that Kirino gave him almost looked angry. "What's that supposed to mean?!" he sounded disbelieving and Shindou couldn't blame him.

It wasn't common knowledge, what science had been able to accomplish. What had saved him and Tsurugi but had… destroyed this Kariya person. But he had to tell Kirino. He couldn't leave his saviour wondering what happened to his friend.

He didn't get a chance to explain however, when something snapped around his neck. His eyes widened and his arms went up to try to get the strings off. He was too slow. The strings pulled him backwards and he was thrown into the wall with a strong force. The brunet slid to the floor and some chunks of rock from the wall fell with him.

Shindou coughed, trying to stand up with the help of the wall. Kariya was already up and he was waving his fingers like he was controlling string puppets. Kirino had scooted back from the surprise attack but Shindou saw the fear in his eyes.

Screw a fight, he needed to protect Kirino.

Thankfully, Kariya ignored the human. He walked towards Shindou. The pink strings—_seriously, what were those things_—rose into the air like snakes ready to bite. All of them were aimed towards Shindou.

Kariya spoke. "Robots who disobey the Master must be punished. However, if you surrender now, you shall be allowed to serve the Master once more."

Kirino's eyes widened and he turned his gaze from Kariya to Shindou. A look of realization was on his face.

That was not how he wanted Kirino to know.

Shindou coughed again before he aimed a glare at Kariya. He felt the blood rise to his head and his breathing became irregular. "I told you, _the Master does not own me_."

"Then, Shindou Takuto, you will receive the worst punishment."

The pink strings lunged towards him. Supposedly, he had nowhere to run. The pink strings were everywhere. But that was the thing. They were _everywhere_ but the places where Kariya had been.

He noticed them a while ago. Spheres a quarter the size of ping pong balls were scattered around the area they were in and the area where Kariya and Tsurugi had fought in earlier. Those were the source of the pink strings. Somehow the spheres stuck onto the surfaces they were on, the walls or the wood, it didn't matter. They wouldn't budge unless, as Shindou assumed, Kariya wanted them to. So he knew only one place to run to.

Shindou raised his arms and threw himself against the wall.


End file.
